My blessing fall on this fair world,
On mountain, valley, forest, ocean,
The clarion winds in ceaseless motion,
And heaven's blue banner high unfurled.
And bless the staff that hither bore me,
And alms that helped me on my way,
The boundless plain that lies before me
The glowing morn, the evening grey.
The very path by which I wander
Shows glorious, golden, bathed in light.
No blade of grass that glistens yonder
But seems a star in heaven's height.
O might I in my exultation
To all the world this joy impart,
Would I might clasp the whole creation,
Lovers or strangers, foes or brothers,
Would I might clasp them, the whole creation,
In fervent rapture to my heart.
Tchaikovsky composed a lovely setting for this poem, which I learned for voice lessons a couple of years ago. It's not a song that hangs around my mind a lot, but it came to me strongly today. YouTube has a beautiful recording of it in the original Russian. The best English version I can find is this one by Jerome Hines.




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